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Jihad — the credible deterrence
By GENERAL (RETD) MIRZA ASLAM BEG
Former Chief of Staff, Pakistan Army
Lately, there has been a determined effort to label the freedom struggles of the Muslim world as terrorism, as the propaganda objective of the vested powers. Take the example of Afghan Jihadis, who were instrumental in the humiliating defeat of the Soviet Union, enabling the US to wear the crown of unipolar global power. They were termed as 'Mujahideen' to carry the positive image of their determination and tenacity. But there was a total reversal, the moment the Red Army retreated from Afghanistan. The epithet for them, outrightly changed into a negative one â "radicals and fundamentalists" â conveying brutish and extremist sensibility.
| While they weren't without fault, the muj were primarily a guerrilla force, not a terrorist organization. The most effective fighters against the Sovs were those of Massood's Pandjir Valley coalition, plus Ismail Khan. The Taliban, who spent the war in refugee camps in Pakistan, moved in after Hekmatyar attempted to sieze power for himself and threw the country into anarchy. The Muj of 20 years ago are the "warlords" of today, except for Massood, who was bumped off by terrorists. |
The tragic episode of 9/11 in 2001 humiliated the Afghan Mujahideen further, who outrightly were declared as 'terrorists', and included in the much maligned category of Al-Qaeda.
| Actually, the Talibs were given the opportunity to hand over the terrorists or suffer the same fate. They chose the latter. Their choice. |
A full fledged 'war on terror' therefore, was launched with superpower-ferocity, without discriminating terror from freedom movements.
| We can see where this is going. Sorry. Kashmir is not a "freedom movement." It's part guerrilla war and largely terrorism, controlled from Pakland... |
Posted by: john 2005-07-10 |
